WAM 1

Epitaph of Seikilos

No Composer
1st Century
Greek Song/Epigram
1-part
monophonic
syllabic
secular
Greek

Introit

Middle Ages
Gregorian Chant
Solo Voice and Choir
monophonic
syllabic
sacred (Proper Mass)
Latin text

Kyrie

Middle Ages
Gregorian Chant
1-part voice
monophonic
melismatic
sacred (Ordinary Mass)
Greek text

Gloria

No Composer
Middle Ages
Gregorian Chant
1-part voice
monophonic
syllabic
sacred (Ordinary Mass)
Latin text

Ordo Virtutum

Hildegard von Bingen (Germany)
Middle Ages
Sacred Drama
Choir
monophonic
melismatic
sacred (not part of mass)
Latin text

Viderunt Omnes

Leoninus / Perotinus (France)
12th century
Organum (duplum / quadruplum)
Choir
polyphonic
syllabic and melismatic sections
sacred (Proper Mass)
Latin text
Associated with Notre Dame Polyphony

Cum statua / Hugo, Hugo

Phillipe de Vitry (France)
14th Century
Motet
3-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
secular
French text
Part of Roman de Fauvel, criticism of French authority

Messe de Nostre Dame: Kyrie

Guillaume Machaut (France)
14th century
Ordinary Mass
4-voice
polyphonic
melismatic
sacred (Ordinary Mass)
Latin text

Douce Dame Jolie

Guillaume Machaut (France)
14th century
Chanson/Virelai
Solo Voice and Dance
monophonic
syllabic
secular
French text

Rose, liz, printemps, verdure

Guillaume Machaut (France)
14th century
Chanson/Rondeau
4-voice
polyphonic
melismatic
secular
French text

Quam pulchra es

John Dunstable (England)
15th Century / Renaissance
Motet
3-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred
Latin text
Not based on an existing melody

se la face ay pale

Guillaume Du Fay (Burgundy)
15th Century / Renaissance
Chanson/Ballade
3-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
secular
French text

missa se la face ay pale: Gloria

Guillaume Du Fay (Burgundy)
15th Century / Renaissance
Cantus Firmus mass
4-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred (Ordinary mass)
Latin text

Ave Maria... virgo serena

Josquin Des Prez (Burgundy)
15th Century / Renaissance
motet
4-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred
Latin text
Strong use of imitation

Solo e Pensoso

Luca Marenzio (Italy)
Late 16th Century / Renaissance
Madrigal
5-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
secular
Italian text

"Io parto" e non piu dissi

Carlo Gesuialdo
Late 16th Century / Renaissance
Madrigal
5-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
secular
Italian text

As Vesta Was

Thomas Weelkes (England)
Late 16th Century / Renaissance
Madrigal
6-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
secular
English text
Honors Queen Elizabeth

Flow, my tears

John Dowland (English)
Late 16th Century / Renaissance
Lute Song / Air
Solo voice and lute
homophonic
syllabic
secular
English text

Danserye

Tielman Susato
Late 16th Century / Renaissance
Moresca
4-part (instrumentation unspecified)
homophonic
secular

Eine feste burg

Martin Luther (Germany)
16th Century
Chorale
1-voice
monophonic
syllabic
sacred (Lutheran service)
German text

Psalm 134

Loys Bourgeois (France)
16th Century
Psalm
1-voice
monophonic
syllabic
sacred (Calvinist service)
French text

If ye love me

Thomas Tallis (England)
16th century
Anthem
4-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred (Anglican service)
English text

Sing joyfully unto God

William Byrd (England)
16th Century
Anthem
6-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred (Anglican service)
English text

Pope Marcellus Mass: Credo

Palestrina (Italy)
16th Century
Mass
6-voice
polyphonic
syllabic
sacred (ordinary mass)
Latin text
Marks new music of the Catholic counter-reformation

Ancient Roman and Greek Musical beliefs

Music was as important as every other aspect of life, and it had a strong effect on a person's character and ethos

Ordinary Mass

the five sung portions of the Mass for which the texts are invariable:
Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei

Proper Mass

the sections of the Mass that are sung to texts that vary with each feast day following the liturgical calendar

Characteristics of Gregorian Chant

monophonic texture, modal melodies, no strong accents with rhythm following accents of words, Latin text

Hildegard von Bingen

1098-1179 (Middle Ages)
Born to a noble family in Germany but consecrated to the church at 8. Pursued music's power to move us and sacred worship outside of the liturgy

13th Century Romanesque architecture

round arches and soft lines

13th Century Gothic architecture

ornate, pointed decorations

Notre Dame School of Music

First polyphonic music composed and performed in the church. Prominent composers are Leoninus and Perotinus

Organum

Medieval polyphony that consists of a principal voice singing a Gregorian chant and one or more additional melodic lines (duplum, triplum, quadruplum)

Motet (Middle Ages Definition)

a short piece of sacred choral music, typically polyphonic and unaccompanied. Borrows chant material in the tenor (cantus firmus) and creates new melodies layered above

Ars Nova

Fourteenth-century French polyphonic musical style whose themes moved increasingly from religious to secular. Innovation in rhythm with introduction of the duple "imperfect" beat division. De Vitry and Machaut represent the style.

Examples of Turmoil in the 14th Century

Hundred Years War in France + England
Economic decline
Black Death
Peasant and urban rebellions
Pope's supremacy questioned
Papal Schism

Roman de Fauvel

A narrative poem featuring music. Story about a horse that serves to satirize political corruption in France

isorhythm

rhythm is repeated but pitch varies, typically in tenor voice. common of 14th century Ars Nova music

talea

repeating rhythmic unit. common of 14th century Ars Nova music

Color

repeating melodic unit. common of 14th century Ars Nova music

perfect time

Beat division of three

imperfect time

beat division of two

major prolation

8th note provides the beat (ex. 9/8)

minor prolation

quarter note provides the beat (ex. 3/4)

Formes fixes

genres associated with dance: ballade, rondeau, virelai

Guillaume de Machaut

1300-1377 (Middle Ages)
French Composer who served in courts and cathedrals. His poetry and music reflect an idealized vision of his audience and their pursuits. Wrote sacred and secular work

Renaissance Ideals

1400-1600. Humanism, Secularism, Individualism, Skepticism. Revive the writings and beliefs of Ancient Greece and Rome (scholars works recently translated)

Humanism

An intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements. Belief in independent reasoning and empirical evidence

Renaissance art and architecture beliefs

Interest in the individual, use of perspective, preference for clarity, imitating ancient architecture

Musical Culture of the renaissance

rebirth of interest in music theory's Greek past, music and poetry are inseparable, care in sentence structure and placing cadences properly, musical accessibility with the creation of the printing press

Impact of the printing press

Spreading music to more people in a more affordable manner; everyday people begin to interact with music more often

Burgundian Lands

parts of France and the low countries (Belgium and the Netherlands)

15th Century Musical Style

Contenance Anglois: bright harmonious sounds, vertical consonance, attention to text, common harmonies of thirds and sixths

Heavy English influence due to the 100 years war

Chanson

Polyphonic setting of a French secular poem

Mass

Full collection of the 5 pieces of the Ordinary that were typically musically connected in some way

Cyclic Mass

a Mass in which all of the movements are linked together by a common musical theme / general style

Motto Mass

Type of cyclic mass: beginning each mass movement with the same melodic motive

Cantus firmus mass

Type of Cyclic Mass: Constructing each movement around the same borrowed melody normally placed in the tenor- principal type of mass setting

Guillaume Du Fay

1397-1474 (Renaissance)
French composer known for his cosmopolitan style and one of the most famous composer of his time. Wrote a range of chansons, motets, masses, and magnificats.

Canon

the compositional technique of deriving two or more voices from a single notated voice

Josquin des Prez

1450-1521 (Renaissance)
French Composer widely popularized due to the printing press. Spent most of his career in Italy. Known for his strong use of imitation.

Shortcut

Pressto study again orif you know the answer

Madrigal

Renaissance secular genre emphasizing the relationship between text and music. Often takes poetry as the text. Themes of love, heartbreak, and lament. Through-composed in order to put attention to detail in every line of text

Madrigalism / word painting

a device, originating in the madrigal, by which key words in a text spark a particularly expressive musical setting

Reformation

A religious movement of the 16th century that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the creation of Protestant churches.

Lutherism

Protestant belief founded by Martin Luther in Germany. Believed in salvation through faith alone and insisted that religious authority was derived from faith alone. Turned many Latin parts of the service into German to be more understandable to common people

Lutherism Musical style

Monophonic chorales (eventually became polyphonic too) that were plain: syllabic and mostly stepwise in motion

Compositional foundation for chorales

new compositions, adaptations of secular or devotional songs, old latin chants

contrafacta chorale

using a secular tune as the foundation for a chorale and substituting religious words

Calvinism

Believed people were already predestined for salvation or damnation. All aspects of life should fall under God's law in the Bible. Art, music, and colorful ceremonies are seen as a distraction from worship and mostly removed.

Calvinism Musical Style

Text can only be sourced from psalms and performed in monophonic tunes. Simple, syllabic, and in the vernacular (commonly French or English)

Anglicanism

Protestant belief founded by Henry VIII in England. Origin lies in politics rather than doctrine as Henry VIII could not get permission from the pope to get an annulment. Blends Catholic and Protestant elements to please both groups in England.

Anglicanism Musical Style

Anthems are used. Melodic movement follows the natural inflection of speech and uses a lot of word painting. Great services have more complex polyphonic and melismatic music, while short services are more chordal and syllabic

Counter Reformation

the reaction of the Roman Catholic Church to the Reformation reaffirming the veneration of saints and the authority of the Pope (to which Protestants objected)

Council of Trent

Group formed by the Catholic church in the counter reformation intended to meet and purge abuses and laxities in the church. Catholic music was sparsely affected by changes.

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

1525-1594 (Renaissance)
Italian composer who began the new standard of catholic sacred polyphonic music after the counter reformation. Use of polyphony in a way that did not overly obscure the text or create too extreme contrasting motion. Created clarity while still maintaining polyphony